EDMONTON - As the snow keeps piling up in Edmonton, so does the cost of dealing with it.

The city exceeded its snow-removal allocation for 2013 by $2 million. The budget is based on traditional average snowfalls, something which may need to be looked at, says Mayor Don Iveson.

“If weather patterns continue to shift … and we’re seeing more snow in the wintertime, then we may need to adjust because the typical winter may not be the same thing that it was five years ago,” Iveson told CBC News in a year-end interview. “That will be part of council’s work in the new year when we inevitably, as we always do, review our snow policy.”

Iveson said any overruns in the snow removal budget will come out of the city’s reserve fund.

On Dec. 4, city council unanimously passed a nine-point motion asking for an internal review to improve Edmonton’s snow and ice control policy. At that time, Gord Cebryk, branch manager with transportation operations, suggested “minor improvements” could be made without boosting the $138-million proposed budget for his department. The budget already represents a 2.4-per-cent increase from last year.

It has snowed every day since Dec. 26 and 18 days total this December. A typical December should see nine snow days in Edmonton.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bill McMurtry said 2013 was the third worst year for snowfall in Edmonton since 1960, and the worst since 1996.

It has snowed 37.2 centimetres this December and 45 cm in November; together, this is double what Edmonton should expect in these two months. Averages are 22.3 cm for December and 17.9 cm for November. For the year, the city receives, on average, 123.5 cm. The record for snowfall in Edmonton was the winter of 1906-07, a total of 238.5 cm.

Edmonton is not in the top 10 cities for snowfall in Canada — all are in the East — nor does it make the top 10 for the number of days it snows, but it does have the dubious distinction of being the sixth-ranked city in Canada for the number of days a year when snow is deeper than one cm — 133 days.

The bad news is that the snowiest month has yet to arrive: “Typically the snowiest month is January … on average about 24.5 cm falls,” said McMurtry.

“The three snowiest months of the year are January, December, then November,” he added.

McMurtry said some of November’s snowfall could be attributed to a high pressure system which set up in the late fall, contributing to cool temperatures and heavy precipitation.

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